Also called: Information Broker
Gets paid to find hard-to-find information for companies, lawyers, and writers.
Spends a day digging through databases, court records, and trade journals to build a report on a company's competitors.
Mostly freelance; varies.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Often an MLIS or journalism background; self-employed.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, Self-taught. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Library Science, Journalism.
Growing about average. Not tracked by BLS.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. AI search and deep-research tools now do much of what clients paid for; experts in hard-to-find records keep a niche.
Classes: AP English Language, AP Research, Journalism or school paper.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-3099.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.